Page 2 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

But this time he had gone too far. This time they wouldn’t even have a roof over their heads for much longer. Katy was now an adult and at eighteen years old could make her own choices as to her future. At that exact moment, standing in the living room of their rapidly emptying family home, she decided that she didn’t want any more adventures or surprises in life. She wanted rock-solid stability and had been seeking it ever since.

So she had abandoned her beloved history A level course at college and the future place at university as well – there was no way that she could stay in control without an income – and took the first job that she could find, which was a chambermaid at a nearby hotel. Whilst her parents’ marriage and lives fell apart in the background, Katy worked all the hours that she could to start becoming independent of her dad’s dreams.

Pretty soon, her income was needed to support both Katy and her mum. Her dad borrowed some money from a friend and fled to the Far East, sending only a text to his daughter with a promise to send for them both when he was settled. The promise, like everything else he had ever vowed, had never come true. He had quickly moved on to another life with another woman and, soon afterwards, another child as well.

Back in England, Katy’s mum had struggled to overcome the shock of how swiftly her life had fallen apart. So, for the next couple of years, Katy had had to become the strong one, the parent, whilst they both picked up the pieces of their lives that her dad had destroyed and tried to find their way forward.

She worked long hours at the hotel and was so thorough with her duties that she was soon promoted to housekeeper. Then, over time, she had moved up into a supervisor role. With her determined nature and complete lack of social life, she had been like a whirlwind in each place she had worked. The hotels tended to be a complete mess behind the scenes. She went in, worked hard to sort out all the mayhem so that it was orderly and smooth and then left once it was a well-oiled machine and, more importantly, before she got too close to anyone. It was for the best, she would tell herself, despite the aching loneliness. It would keep her from getting hurt that badly ever again.

Her eyes moved across to the other photograph, which was of her mum and her lovely Irish stepdad who had been married for almost ten years. They had met on a tour of Scotland and now lived in a modest home in Cork. Katy hadn’t visited as often as she would have liked, due to her work commitments, but theirs was a comfortable home and her mum was finally happy and secure with a gentle, loving husband whom she could trust wholeheartedly.

Her dad, meanwhile, was still searching for that next adventure in Asia, for something always just out of reach. Perhaps he was still embarrassed about what had happened all those years ago. Katy would never know as she refused to answer the phone to him on the rare occasions that he bothered to call, wanting to spare herself from any more hurt.

She sighed, as always, the thought of her selfish father bringing on darker, more negative thoughts. And that just wouldn’t do. That kind of attitude hadn’t helped her survive the mess of her late teenage years.

She glanced down at the spare front door key that Gerard had placed at the end of the sideboard before turning away. She was alone again at the age of thirty-two. And that was fine. That was absolutely how she wanted it. She spoke to her mum once a week and that was the sum total of her personal contacts. She didn’t need or want anyone else in her life, despite any gentle nagging from her mum.

But, for some reason that evening, the break-up of her relationship was hurting her far more than she had ever expected. After all, it wasn’t as if she had truly loved Gerard. Their moving in together had been more convenient than anything else when the lease on his own apartment had run out. Truthfully, she had never felt that burning, couldn’t-live-without-him passion that others spoke about. She had never loved anyone except her parents. Gerard had been a mirror image of her own hardworking personality. Except it had turned out that he had found time in his busy schedule to fall for an accountant at his law firm called Kimberley.

‘I couldn’t stop myself from falling in love with her,’ Gerard had sheepishly told Katy when he had finally confessed his affair. ‘She’s all I can think about. I’m sure you know what that’s like.’

No, thought Katy. She didn’t. And never wanted to either. To trust someone completely with her heart? It was unthinkable to her.

She drained her glass and headed back into the kitchen to retrieve the wine bottle from the fridge. Then she grabbed her laptop and sat on the sofa, refilling her glass and drinking it in a daze. She didn’t normally drink to excess. In fact, she didn’t do any kind of overindulgence. But she felt out of sorts and, for once, was willing to throw caution to the wind.

By the time the bottle was almost empty, and fuelled by alcohol on a nearly empty stomach, Katy was feeling much more optimistic. Of course she hadn’t reached a dead end with her career. Of course she was still in control. The right job just hadn’t come up, that was all. Who wouldn’t want to employ someone like her? She was perfect! Organised! A machine!

She gave a start at the word she had used to describe herself. Well, okay. She had feelings, didn’t she? She just didn’t give in to them. Better to suppress any emotions than to let them run away and cause catastrophes like an unexpected bankruptcy on Christmas Eve.

What word had Gerard used to describe her earlier that evening as he had made his excuses? Distant. Ha! What did he know? He was weak, just like her father. It would be nice, she thought, to find a man who could be just as strong as she was, perhaps even more so. Someone to lean on in those rare occasions when she needed it. A real man. But where on earth was she going to find one of those?

She picked up the bottle and poured the last dregs of wine into her glass. But somehow she missed and some of it spilled onto the glass coffee table instead. Katy immediately got up to retrieve a dishcloth to wipe up the mess. No mess, no fuss. That was her mantra. Everything had to be just so.

After she returned the cloth to the kitchen sink, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror above the sofa. Her expensively cut dark long hair hung in a perfect sheet around her shoulders, no kinks or waves tolerated. Her make-up was delicate and natural looking. Her body slim. No excess allowed there either.

As she sat down heavily on the sofa, she realised that she really was quite drunk. She opened up Google and stared at the flashing cursor. She had tried every job site, every recruitment search engine for work as a senior manager in the hospitality sector but those jobs were scarce. What next? There had to be a solution. There had to be a job out there that she was perfect for.

She picked up her glass and drained the final drops of wine. Think, she told herself. There’s always a solution to every problem. What was she good at? What did she have to offer?

She instantly thought up her answer. She, Katy Smith, was the most organised person in the country, capable of dealing with absolutely anything.

She smiled as she haphazardly typed the description of herself into the search engine. There must be someone out there who wanted skills like that. Who wouldn’t?

After hitting search, Katy leaned forward to squint at the newest result. Was she seeing things? Nope. It was real.

Wanted – the most organised person in the country! Do you love a mess? Then come to Cranfield because we have just the position for you!

We have a temporary but fantastic job opportunity for someone who has excellent administrative and organisational skills with an eye for detail and a logical mind.

Bed and board included!

She read the advert in disbelief before giving a whoop of joy. Good things always came to those who deserved them, she reminded herself.

She was pretty muzzy-headed after all the alcohol, but it seemed to be the perfect job opportunity, presumably in hospitality, as bed and board were mentioned. There was no mention of salary, but she had enough savings to cover her bills if it wasn’t well paid. Also, it was only a temporary position, but that was fine too. By the time she had the place in Cranfield shipshape, another far better job was bound to have come along.

Where was Cranfield? She guessed it was a suburb in one of the big cities somewhere. She had always been an urban person, hating the chaos and lack of order in the countryside, and had managed quite successfully to avoid straying away from the light pollution of major cities. The countryside was most definitely for other people, certainly not her.

She swiftly typed out her reply, emphasising all of her skills and experience. Even in her drunken state, she knew to spell-check the email and double-check for grammatical errors. After all, it was vital to appear professional, even for a temporary position.